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Published online on March 12, 2002, 10.1073/pnas.052015699
PNAS | March 19, 2002 | vol. 99 | no. 6 | 3552-3556


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Biophysics
 Ion channel gating: A first-passage time analysis of the Kramers type

Igor Goychuk and Peter Hänggi*

Institute of Physics, University of Augsburg, Universitätsstrasse 1, D-86135 Augsburg, Germany

Communicated by Hans Frauenfelder, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, January 9, 2002 (received for review September 20, 2001)

The opening rate of voltage-gated potassium ion channels exhibits a characteristic knee-like turnover where the common exponential voltage dependence changes suddenly into a linear one. An explanation of this puzzling crossover is put forward in terms of a stochastic first passage time analysis. The theory predicts that the exponential voltage dependence correlates with the exponential distribution of closed residence times. This feature occurs at large negative voltages when the channel is predominantly closed. In contrast, the linear part of voltage dependence emerges together with a nonexponential distribution of closed dwelling times with increasing voltage, yielding a large opening rate. Depending on the parameter set, the closed-time distribution displays a power law behavior that extends over several decades.

* To whom reprint requests should be addressed. E-mail: Peter.Hanggi{at}physik.uni-augsburg.de.

www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.052015699
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